Illinois basketball went into Columbus and came away with a massive win over Ohio State.
The Buckeyes have a decent team, led by a big-time scorer in Bruce Thornton. This didn’t deter the Illini from getting the victory, though. We threw so much firepower at Ohio State, and they couldn’t handle it.
Illinois had big games from numerous players, too. Brad Underwood addressed some of these big-time performances in the postgame press conference, and he had some thoughts on the adjustments made at halftime.
Here are five interesting Brad Underwood quotes from the Illinois basketball presser vs Ohio State
- “Andrej Stojakovic’s job defensively, everybody is going to look at his points, I thought the job defensively he did on him (Bruce Thornton), maybe shocked his central nervous system a little bit. He just gave him a different look in the second half.”
The first half for Bruce Thornton was extremely impressive. He dropped 24 points on the Illini while only missing one shot from the field. Underwood wanted to change the look, and he went with Andrej Stojakovic on Thornton in the second half.
This resulted in Thornton struggling. He only had 10 points in the final 20 minutes of action, and he went 4-of-7 from the field. Ohio State was forced to rely on other players, and this ultimately was their downfall.
- “There’s probably not enough adjectives to say and talk about how good our freshmen were in their first true Big Ten road game.”
I completely agree with this. I am not sure there are enough adjectives to describe the two Illinois freshmen who are dominating right now.
Keaton Wagler and David Mirkovic combined for 45 points, 11 rebounds, and six assists while going 11-of-22 from the field and 7-of-10 from three-point range. They also made 16-of-17 from the free throw line. The freshmen carried us to the victory.
- “I think it speaks volumes that I didn’t take him (Keaton Wagler) out in the second half.”
Wagler is one of the best players I have seen for the Illini in the past decade, and he is arguably the best freshman I have seen for the program in my lifetime.
It does speak volumes that Wagler was in for the entire second half, and he played 39 minutes, which is the most on the team. Underwood trusts this kid. He has a special ability, and he is the leader of this program as a freshman. That is a crazy thing to say.
- “Just playing through some early struggles will help him (Andrej Stojakovic) in the long run.”
Underwood talked about how Andrej Stojakovic played well, especially on the defensive end of the court. He liked him a lot in transition, and that is where he does most of his work.
The struggles from the past two games have helped Stojakovic in his progression. Underwood touched on this, as Stojakovic only had eight points in the past two games but dropped 17 points on Tuesday night.
- “One thing that has helped Z (Zvonimir Ivisic) the most is Adam Fletcher. He came in here at 220 pounds, and now he is 250.”
Zvonimir Ivisic has been huge for Illinois this season. He started some games when his brother was injured, and now he is playing big minutes off the bench and giving the Illini good production.
When asked about his progression, Underwood said the biggest thing is that he has worked with strength and conditioning coach Adam Fletcher. The bump from 220 pounds to 250 pounds helps him body opponents in the paint and get to the bucket. Ivisic has become a more complete player.